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USTA National Campus Open For Business

  • Posted: Jan 07, 2017

USTA National Campus Open For Business

ATP World Tour legends on hand for opening ceremony

The new “Home of American Tennis” has arrived.

The United States Tennis Association officially opened its USTA National Campus on Monday in Lake Nona, Fla., and held a ceremonial “First Serve” on Thursday. Former World No. 1 Jim Courier, former world No. 4 James Blake and former Top 20 doubles player Eric Butorac, who began serving last October as the USTA’s Director of Professional Tennis Operations and Player Relations, were on hand for the ceremony.

“A lot of people in America don’t understand that public parks and courts are available. Tennis isn’t as inaccessible as some might think it to be,” said Courier to the Orlando Sentinel. “It’s not an elitist sport. There are opportunities for you to come play at a facility like this.”

The $60 million, 64-acre facility includes 100 tennis courts, the Adidas Performance Center for the USTA Player Development programme, a Collegiate Area to host dual college matches, and the Nemours Family Zone with both 36-foot and 60-foot courts to introduce young players to the sport. In addition, all 84 tournament courts will feature live streaming.

“The way they’ve done this and the way they structured the facility is just unbelievable,” said Blake.

Several ATP World Tour players trained at the facility prior to its official opening, including Bob Bryan, Mike Bryan and #NextGenATP star Frances Tiafoe.

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Jasika Excelling On Home Soil

  • Posted: Jan 07, 2017

Jasika Excelling On Home Soil

Rising Aussie into semi-finals of Happy Valley Challenger

Some players feel pressure playing in front of a home crowd, but Australian teenager Omar Jasika has been thriving on it. 

The Tecnifibre player finished 2016 by reaching his first ATP Challenger Tour semi-final in Canberra, and has started 2017 with his career-best result. Competing at this week’s $75,000 event in Happy Valley, the 19-year-old wild card from Melbourne upset fifth seed Norbert Gombos in the opening round and took out fourth seed Peter Polansky in the quarter-finals. On Saturday, he fought through Joris De Loore to prevail in a third-set tie-break and advance to his first Challenger final.

“I love playing at home and enjoy playing in front of the Aussie crowd,” said Jasika. “I had a pretty good off-season back at home in Melbourne with my dad. I’ve been working on my game a lot, trying to get fitter and stronger. It’s starting to pay off.”

Jasika also had another milestone moment in between his two solid Challenger results. He prevailed in December at the Australian Open wild card playoffs, defeating some of the best players in Australia to earn a main draw berth into the first Grand Slam of the year.

“Reaching my first Challenger semi-final gave me a lot of confidence going into the playoff. Entering a tournament with a few wins under your belt is only a good thing,” said Jasika. “Since I’d made one semi-final [in Canberra], I knew that I could do it again and even better.”

The Aussie is looking to produce similar results throughout 2017 in order to crack the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings. He’s also confident that some of the other young Aussies moving up the rankings, including Alex De Minaur and Marc Polmans, will join him in that upper echelon.

“There’s a lot more young Aussies coming up than what we had in the past few years,” said Jasika. “It’s definitely a good thing and we’re all motivating each other to get better.”

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It's Murray v. Djokovic In Doha Final

  • Posted: Jan 07, 2017

It's Murray v. Djokovic In Doha Final

Two will face off for the 36th time

Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic are starting 2017 right where they left off in 2016. On Saturday, the two will play for the Qatar ExxonMobil Open title, the first singles crown to be decided during the young 2017 ATP World Tour season.

Murray advanced to the title match by beating third seed Tomas Berdych 6-3, 6-4 on Friday evening. The Scot extended two streaks with the one-hour and 41-minute victory. Murray pushed his overall winning streak to 28. He also beat Berdych for the seventh consecutive time, dating back to a 2015 Australian Open semi-final victory.

You May Also Like: Djokovic Saves Five Match Points In Doha

Their semi-final match in Doha was never in doubt. Murray broke to lead 4-1 in the first set and clinched the opener on his third set point. The Scot earned two breaks in the second set and controlled the match on his racquet, winning almost 80 per cent of his first-serve points.

Earlier on Friday, second seed Djokovic moved into the title contest by saving five match points and beating Fernando Verdasco 4-6, 7-6(7), 6-3 in two hours and 22 minutes. Djokovic will try to repeat as champion in Doha; Murray will be going for his third Doha title (also 2008, ’09).

Djokovic leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry 24-11. The two last played in November during the ATP Finals title match, which was the last match of the 2016 season. Murray won 6-3, 6-4.

Read More: Novak & Andy: The Rivalry

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Qatar Open: Sir Andy Murray to face Novak Djokovic in final

  • Posted: Jan 06, 2017

Sir Andy Murray will face defending champion Novak Djokovic in the Qatar Open final on Saturday after beating third seed Tomas Berdych in the semis.

Murray won 6-3 6-4 against Czech Berdych, who needed treatment on an ankle injury after the first set.

It will be the 19th ATP final meeting between Murray and the man he replaced as world number one in November.

Second seed Djokovic survived five match points on his way to beating Fernando Verdasco in his semi-final.

Murray, who won the tournament in 2008 and 2009, has now recorded 28 consecutive victories in ATP Tour matches.

“I want to try and keep it going – I feel a little bit like this year’s a fresh start,” he told Eurosport.

“It’s been the perfect week to get ready for the Australian Open.”

Earlier, Serb Djokovic made only one unforced error in the decider to win 4-6 7-6 (9-7) 6-3 after Spaniard Verdasco, ranked 42nd in the world, controlled the first two sets.

“It’s definitely one of the most exciting matches I have played,” Djokovic said. “I haven’t saved five match points many times. He should have finished it off.”

You can follow live coverage of the Qatar Open final in Doha between Murray and Djokovic on the BBC Sport website from 15:00 GMT.

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Nadal Rues Missed Opportunities

  • Posted: Jan 06, 2017

Nadal Rues Missed Opportunities

Spaniard says margin of defeat to Raonic was small

Rafael Nadal knows better than most that tennis is a game of fine margins. Although he suffered a three-set loss to Milos Raonic in the Brisbane International quarter-finals Friday night, it could easily have been a straight-sets result in the Spaniard’s favour.

After winning the first set 6-4, Nadal had two break chances in the fifth game of the second to go up a set and a break. But he was unable to convert either opportunity, or one additional chance in the third set, as Raonic powered home to a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win, helped by 23 aces.

Nadal, who suffered just his second loss in eight career FedEx ATP head2Head meetings with Raonic, had been chasing his 70th tour-level title.

“Matches are decided by just a few things,” Nadal said. “Probably if I make that cross-court forehand passing shot, I would’ve had the break in the second set; there’s a big chance that we will be here [in the media interview room] one hour before with a victory, maybe 6-4, 6-3, or 6-4, 6-4. That’s tennis. That passing shot was long, and that’s it. Then he had the break and the match changes.

“Before he had the break in the second set, I think I was playing better than him. That’s my feeling. And I think that’s the real feeling. I was being better than him on court, and after that he was better than me… I had a big chance. I didn’t convert that chance. And then he was aggressive and he played well.

“He was a little bit better than me tonight. He deserved [to win], and congrats to him.”

Instead of meeting Grigor Dimitrov in Saturday’s Brisbane semi-finals, Nadal will head to Melbourne to prepare for the Australian Open still looking to break a hard-court title drought: Since winning the 2013 US Open, Nadal has won just one hard court title: Doha in the first week of the 2014 season.

Nadal gave little away when asked about his chances at the Australian Open, where he won the title in 2009, but last year lost an epic first-round battle with fellow Spanish lefty Fernando Verdasco.

“I feel that remain one week and a little bit more for the Australian Open start, so I really hope that I can be ready for it, and I’m gonna fight and to practise hard to make it happen. Then what’s gonna happen? I cannot predict, but anything is possible.”

Reflecting on his first visit to Brisbane, Nadal said: “I loved the atmosphere. I really just can say thank you very much to all the organisation of the tournament. Is unbelievable. People are so nice. Make me feel more than, better than like home, maybe.”

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Raonic Beats Nadal In Brisbane, Dimitrov Next Up

  • Posted: Jan 06, 2017

Raonic Beats Nadal In Brisbane, Dimitrov Next Up

The Canadian beats Nadal for the first time in almost two years

Defending champion Milos Raonic remains on course to reach the final of the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp for the third straight year. While the Canadian says that he wants to come forward more in 2017, it was his serve and big forehand that earned him a comeback win over Rafael Nadal on Friday night.

World No. 3 Raonic recorded only his second victory over Nadal in eight meetings with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win in two hours and 21 minutes. The Canadian will now face seventh seed and 2013 finalist Grigor Dimitrov in the semi-finals on Saturday.

“I played very well [and] I did a lot of very good things,” said Raonic. “I obviously served well… I started creating opportunities. I was dictating, which wasn’t necessarily the case at the beginning.”

After breaking Nadal for the first time for a 5-3 lead in the second set, Raonic closed it out emphatically with three straight aces and then a crushing forehand winner for a love hold. Raonic then struck a monster forehand winner down the line to break in the first game of the deciding set, and ended the match with a love hold. He hit 23 aces and won 81 per cent of his first service points overall.

The 30-year-old Nadal had been trying to capture his first ATP World Tour hard-court title since the 2014 Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha. His last win over a player in the Top 10 of the Emirates ATP Rankings was against Kei Nishikori in April 2016 in the Barcelona Open BancSabadell final.

Earlier in the day, Dimitrov saved 13 of the 14 break points he faced to win a battle of the single-handed backhands over Dominic Thiem, the fourth seed, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in two hours and five minutes.

Dimitrov immediately opened up a 3-0 lead and closed out the 48-minute opener after a 16-point game on his fifth set point opportunity. Thiem broke in the 10th game of the second set, while two service breaks in decider helped World No. 17 Dimitrov to his first Top 10 win since his run to the Beijing final in October 2016.

“It was a good match, I expected to play a good match,” Dimitrov told ATPWorldTour.com. “Thiem is one of the hottest contenders at any tournament, so I’m happy to get a Top 10 win. I was coming in a lot in the first set, but then got off my patterns a little bit. I need to serve better on first serve.”

Dimitrov has a 2-1 lead in his FedEx ATP Head2Head series against Raonic.

”It’s a difficult match-up,” said Raonic. “(Dimitrov’s) capable of so much. He can do so many great things. It’s really about keeping a level head throughout the match, keeping a flat line, and hoping that that averages out better than what he brings. I’m doing things well. I’m obviously playing significantly better today than I did in my first round, and hopefully I can continue to improve each and every match I play.”

You May Also Like: Wawrinka Rallies For Brisbane SF Berth

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Hopman Cup: Great Britain beaten by Germany for third defeat

  • Posted: Jan 06, 2017

Great Britain exited the Hopman Cup without winning a match following a 2-1 defeat against Germany.

Dan Evans and Heather Watson lost the mixed doubles rubber 4-2 4-2 to Alexander Zverev and Andrea Petkovic.

Earlier, world number 75 Watson beat Petkovic – world ranked 55 – 6-2 7-6 (7-3) to give Britain a 1-0 lead.

British number three Evans then lost 6-4 6-3 against 19-year-old Zverev – who beat Roger Federer on Wednesday – to square the tie.

The defeat for Great Britain follows losses to Switzerland and France earlier in the round-robin competition.

Later on Friday, Switzerland play France, with the winner facing the Group B winners United States in Saturday’s final.

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Wawrinka Leads Edmund In Brisbane

  • Posted: Jan 06, 2017

Wawrinka Leads Edmund In Brisbane

Swiss star looking to reach Brisbane SF

Stan Wawrinka is a only a few games away from surviving a quarter-final scare at the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp. Wawrinka leads #NextGenATP star Kyle Edmund 6-7(2), 6-4, 3-2.

Wawrinka broke Edmund to start the deciding set. The Swiss star, who is making his Brisbane debut, is looking to continue his strong start Down Under.

 

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